Search: Digital Future

Sunday, 23 September 2012

I believe passionately in the power of professional
networking. Specifically, reaching out either in-person (usually at networking
events or professional seminars) or via wonderful tools like email, LinkedIn or
Twitter to cement a solid business relationship. Almost every day I receive an
approach from an advertising/marketing agency, media owner, technology provider
(particularly around mobile apps right now) or people looking to work for or
with me (job opportunities).

I can’t speak for every brand/client-side marketer but I assume that I’m not
alone or particularly unique in receiving these requests. I strongly suspect
that marketers’ at most big brands are facing the same issue. Why wouldn’t you
want to approach a Marketing Director, Digital leader or key decision-maker at
a great brand like adidas, Chanel, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson,
Nestléor (in my case) Samsung?

When done right it opens you, and the company
you work for, to wonderful opportunities, better media and marketing and of
course, great new partners. The problem is that very often, it is done so
poorly or with such little consideration it often comes across as rude or
ignorant. That’s why your calls or emails are not returned.

So with this in mind, I recently had a very strange encounter on Twitter that's left be frustrated and bewildered. I was asked by a supposed expert in social media and digital reputation management in the Philippines Tony Ahn if he could pitch for Samsung work, and get an introduction to the local marketing team. I
say supposed, because the Twitter exchange ended in him insulting me
personally - isn't that something a digital reputation expert hoping to
win new business should try to avoid?

Here's what happened:

If you are not familiar with the terms MAYABANG or YABANG, they roughly translate into arrogant or conceited in English.

Now sure, I might have come across as harsh but I hope the criticism would have been taken in the spirit of improving the communication or finding common ground. After all, my time is limited and I could simply ignore the conversation right? That may be a fair call. But to then take it to a personal level and get to insults, well that's not cool at all. What I find so bewildering about this exchange is how this is coming from an expert in digital reputation management and social media, who is clearly interested in winning new business. So what do you think? Was I too harsh and deserve the insult? Or is this a case of a senior PR/social media person forgetting where they are (Twitter) and not practicing what they preach? Please let me know in the comments section below.

Update 1: There's a little more fuel that's been thrown onto the fire. This really doesn't seem like the best way to manage a relationship online...

About Damien Cummings

Damien is a digital disrupter and change agent with over 20 years’ experience in marketing and digital transformation. He is highly awarded, being honoured with “Global Top 50 Digital Marketing Leaders 2016”, “Financial Services Marketer of the Year 2016”, “Digital Marketer of the Year 2016”, "Most Influential CMO 2015" , "Marketing Professional of The Year 2012" and the "Brand Leadership Award 2011".

Damien is currently CEO of Peoplewave a cloud-based HR software company on a mission to make work fair. Before entrepreneurship, he was Global Head of Digital Marketing at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to this he was Chief Marketing Officer at Philips APAC. Damien has also worked at major global brands such as Samsung, Dell, Ogilvy & Mather, Citibank, Coca-Cola, NRMA and McKinsey & Company.